Early autumn is almost as good of a time for shopping in Hungarian markets as high summer. There are still tasty reminders of summer, like tomatoes, corn, and plums. But there are also fall flavors like pears, apples, all kinds of squash, wild mushrooms, fresh grape must (the sweet precursor of wine) as well as quinces, the last of which you can be forgiven for not knowing anything about.

Quince - birsalma or birskörte doesn't top many shopping lists, since the bracingly bitter cousin of the apple can't be eaten raw. But when prepared properly, they are a joy. They can be baked, cooked, or pureed and turned into jam, cake, or a number of other sweet dishes. One simple way to use them is to slowly cook them down with a little water until the flesh turns soft and creamy, and then add it to an apple pie. The flesh of the green-skinned quince will turn orange as it's cooked.

In Hungary one of the most common ways to prepare quince is quince "cheese" (birsalma sajt, above left) - which is essentially identical to the better-known Spanish membrillo - a slab of orange-red quince paste. In Spain it's commonly served with Manchego cheese, which you can swap for bleu, smoked sheep's cheese, or any other cheese with a flavor strong enough to stand up to the sweetness of the sugared quince. When I bought a hunk of the stuff from the market recently (for Ft 3,500/€14 per kilo) the guy selling it also recommended eating it with roasted meat.

You won't find quinces, or quince cheese, in big quantities at the markets. But they're worth seeking out since these are one of the few fruits that are never grown out of season, and deliciously epitomize the first weeks of autumn.